COMMENTS
v. 7.0 – 9 March 2023 view/download PDF
6 families • 16 genera • 34 species
Family CYTTIDAE Lookdown Dories
Cyttus Günther 1860 from kittos, Greek name for the ivy plant, inexplicably inserted into a list of fishes by Greco-Egyptian author Athenaeus (late 2nd to early 3rd centuries AD), which Günther, believing it to be the name of an unknown fish, applied to this genus
Cyttus australis (Richardson 1843) southern, referring to distribution in the southern hemisphere around Australia
Cyttus novaezealandiae (Arthur 1885) of New Zealand, referring to type locality off Otago Heads, New Zealand (also occurs in the southwest Pacific off Australia)
Cyttus traversi Hutton 1872 in honor of New Zealand politician, lawyer, explorer and naturalist William Thomas Locke Travers (1819-1903), who “presented” type
Family OREOSOMATIDAE Oreos
Subfamily PSEUDOCYTTINAE
Pseudocyttus Gilchrist 1906 pseudo-, false, presumed to be “closely related” to Cyttosoma (=Oreosoma)
Pseudocyttus maculatus Gilchrist 1906 spotted, referring to large dark spots on gray body
Subfamily OREOSOMATINAE
Allocyttus McCulloch 1914 allo-, other, i.e., presumed to be another genus closely related to Cyttosoma (=Oreosoma)
Allocyttus folletti Myers 1960 in honor of Wilbur (“Bill”) I. Follett (1901-1992), Curator of Fishes, California Academy of Sciences, “as a token of personal esteem” and for his “deep interest and broad knowledge” of California fishes
Allocyttus guineensis Trunov & Kukuev 1982 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Gulf of Guinea, Southeastern Atlantic, type locality
Allocyttus niger James, Inada & Nakamura 1988 black, referring to blackish color of freshly caught specimens; also reflects common name “black oreo” widely used in the deepwater fishery of New Zealand
Allocyttus verrucosus (Gilchrist 1906) covered with verrucae (warts), presumably referring to “blunt conical elevation” in the middle of the scales, making its body “rough to the touch”
Neocyttus Gilchrist 1906 neo-, new, then believed to be a new genus of the family Cyttidae
Neocyttus acanthorhynchus Regan 1908 acanthus, spine; rhynchus, snout, referring to strong spines on snout
Neocyttus helgae (Holt & Byrne 1908) of His Majesty’s Yacht Helga (British Royal Navy), from which type was collected
Neocyttus psilorhynchus Yearsley & Last 1998 psilos, bare; rhynchus, snout, referring to scaleless snout between lachrymal and supraorbital crest
Neocyttus rhomboidalis Gilchrist 1906 –alis, adjectival suffix: presumably referring to rhomboid-like shape of body
Oreosoma Cuvier 1829 oreo-, mountain; soma, body, referring to cone-shaped bony structures on underside of juveniles, which resemble mountain peaks
Oreosoma atlanticum Cuvier 1829 –icum, belonging to: described from a specimen captured in the Atlantic (species as a whole occurs circumglobally in southern oceans except near South America)
Family PARAZENIDAE Smooth Dories
Subfamily PARAZENINAE Slender Dory
Parazen Kamohara 1935 para-, near, referring to its presumed close relationship to Zen (=Cyttopsis)
Parazen pacificus Kamohara 1935 –icus, belonging to: the Pacific Ocean, referring to its occurrence in the Indo-West Pacific (also known from the Western Atlantic off Cuba)
Subfamily CYTTOPSINAE Smooth Dories
Cyttopsis Gill 1862 opsis, presumably referring to its similarity to Cyttus (Cyttidae)
Cyttopsis cypho (Fowler 1934) hunchback, referring to convex dorsal profile of adults
Cyttopsis rosea (Lowe 1843) pink or rosy, referring to its color
Stethopristes Gilbert 1905 stethos, breast or chest; pristes, saw, referring to a “continuous series of carinated spinous bucklers from throat to anus”
Stethopristes eos Gilbert 1905 after Eos, goddess of morning-glow, referring to its light rose color
Family ZENIONTIDAE Armoreye Dories
Capromimus Gill 1893 mimus, imitator, referring to how C. abbreviatus “has the aspect of” the genus Capros (Caproidae, Perciformes, its family at time of description); Gill correctly anticipated that it “may prove not to be a caproid when anatomically examined”
Capromimus abbreviatus (Hector 1875) shortened, presumably referring to its “shorter form” compared to Bathystethus cultratus (Perciformes: Kyphosidae), its presumed congener at the time
Cyttomimus Gilbert 1905 mimus, imitator, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its similarity to Cyttus (Cyttidae)
Cyttomimus affinis Weber 1913 related, referring to similarity to C. stelgis
Cyttomimus stelgis Gilbert 1905 scraper, presumably referring to exposed surface of scales “rendered very rough by numberless minute prickles”
Zenion Jordan & Evermann 1896 diminutive of Zeus (the John Dory), referring to its similarity to that genus
Zenion hololepis (Goode & Bean 1896) holo-, entire; lepis, scale, referring to scales covering entire body compared to presumed congeners in the genus Cyttus
Zenion japonicum Kamohara 1934 Japanese, described from a specimen collected at Mimase Market, Kochi, Tosa Province (now Kochi Prefecture), Japan
Zenion leptolepis (Gilchrist & von Bonde 1924) leptos, thin; lepis, scale, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to smaller scales (90 along lateral line) compared to Z. hololepis (~67 along lateral line)
Zenion longipinnis Kotthaus 1970 longus, long; pinnis, fin, referring to the “unusual length” (translation) of the ventral fin (spine is >¼ SL)
Family GRAMMICOLEPIDIDAE Tinselfishes
Subfamily MACRUROCYTTINAE
Macrurocyttus Fowler 1934 a combination of Macrurus and Cyttus, combining the dark head and abdomen coloration of macrurids (Gadiformes) with the long ventral spine and lack of vomerine teeth of Cyttosoma (=Oreosoma)
Macrurocyttus acanthopodus Fowler 1934 acanthus, spine; podus, foot, referring to “very large and conspicuous” ventral-fin spine
Subfamily GRAMMICOLEPIDINAE
Grammicolepis Poey 1873 grammikos, linear; lepis, scale, referring to vertical, linear scales (longer than they are wide) covering body
Grammicolepis brachiusculus Poey 1873 diminutive of brachium, arm, referring to its very short, rounded pectoral fins
Xenolepidichthys Gilchrist 1922 xeno-, different and lepid, scale, “characterized by the great vertical elongation” of its scales; ichthys, fish
Xenolepidichthys dalgleishi Gilchrist 1922 in honor of Lieut. James Dalgleish (1891-1964), commander of the survey ship Pickle, from which type was collected, and to whom the success of the South African Marine Survey was “largely due”
Family ZEIDAE Dories
Zenopsis Gill 1862 zen, a form of Zeus; opsis, appearance, presumably referring to its similarity to Zeus but with osseous plates at base of dorsal- and three anal-fin spines
Zenopsis conchifer (Lowe 1852) concha, shell; fero, to bear, referring to how osseous plates at base of dorsal and anal fins “resemble the depressed shells of a Fissurella [a limpet] seen in profile”
Zenopsis filamentosa Kai & Tashiro 2019 referring to filamentous membranes extending from spinous portion of dorsal fin, their length more than twice SL
Zenopsis nebulosa (Temminck & Schlegel 1845) dark, dusky or cloudy, presumably referring to numerous, irregularly placed, dark or dusky blotches on sides of juveniles (one grayish blotch on adults)
Zenopsis oblonga Parin 1989 oblong, i.e., elongate, described as the most “low-bodied” species in the genus
Zenopsis stabilispinosa Nakabo, Bray & Yamada 2006 stabilis, firm; spinosa, spine, referring to third anal-fin spine fused to its pterygiophore
Zeus Linnaeus 1758 derived from zaeus, ancient Greek name for this fish dating to at least Pliny’s Natural History; more recent scholars have confused zaeus with the Greek god Zeus, culminating in Jordan’s unfounded and oft-repeated 1902 claim that the fish had also been called “Piscis Jovii” in classical texts, with Zeus being the equivalent to the Roman god Jove or Jupiter (our search for “Piscis Jovii” in the classical lexicon revealed nothing)
Zeus capensis Valenciennes 1835 –ensis, suffix denoting place: the cape, referring to type locality, Cape of Good Hope
Zeus faber Linnaeus 1758 Latin for craftsman, allusion unclear; according to Renaissance scholars Gyllius (1553) and Salviani (1558), faber was its local name in Dalmatia (now part of present-day Croatia), referring to how its dorsal-, ventral- and anal-fin spines, and possibly also its head bones, said to resemble the tools of a craftsman